Coopers Ipa

[awall]

Hey everyone, I was pretty keen on brewing a relatively standard toucan but have had an enlightenment of sorts in a bottle of Vale IPA. I understand that it may not be considered a true IPA but that intensely fruity hops aroma is what i'm really digging atm. To cut a long story short I've ended up with a Coopers IPA kit, 1.5kg of LME, some DME and dextrose. As well as some amarillo and cascade hops.

I would just like to see what you all think of this recipe. It's my 3rd brew but first real venture away from a standard K+K style brew. Using ianh's spreadsheet (huge thanks man!) I've ended up with a recipe that fills in the requirements for an American IPA but wanted to see what you all think. Without further ado...

1.7kg Coopers IPA kit
1.5kg Morgans Pale Lager LME
500g DME
500g Dextrose
Filled to 23L

I was then thinking of boiling the DME in 5L of water and adding 10g of cascade and 10g of amarillo at 10mins and another 10g of each at 5mins. I will then dry hop 20g of each ~7 days before bottling. Also I'm using US-05 yeast and will try to keep temps around 18-20C.

According to the spreadsheet, It ends up at 1.059 OG, 1.013FG, 44.4IBU's and 6.3% abv after bottling.

I should probably add that I tried a Sleeping Giant IPA and found it pretty bad. Fair amount of bitterness upfront (which i didn't mind), too much maltiness and hardly any aroma to speak of. May have been brewed to a more english style but I really didn't enjoy it so i definitely don't want to end up with something like that.

Cheers.

 

[waggastew]

Looks like a plan to me, alot of good things going on for your third brew. Hop additions look good and will give the whole thing a lift.

One area to focus on to transform this from a good brew to an AMAZING brew is yeast health. Essentially the big faults that will bring this beer down will not be lack of grains etc, but bad stuff being generated during the ferment. Given you are using US05 I would recommend:

1. Pitching yeast at 18degC but letting it rise and ferment out at 20degC
2. Leaving it for 1 week after reaching FG to ensure the yeast clean up diacetyl etc
3. Pitching two sachets of yeast or making a starter of at least 3L
4. Giving the fermenter a big shake before pitching to ensure its well aerated

With bigger beers there is a bigger risk of generating fusels/esters etc. Keep the ferment clean and the hops can shine.

Good luck and report back once its in the glass.

Stew

 

[hoppy2B]

Yeah I agree with you awall, The Sleeping Giant IPA is a bit heavy on the caramel maltiness. Perhaps a couple of years in the cellar would improve it. I recommend you try a Fat Yak, they are pretty nice.
Good luck with your brew.

 

[wbosher]

Is this the first time you've used us-05 yeast? I've just done my fourth brew and used it for the first time - CRAZY KRAUSEN!!!

I've got about 2 inches of thick gooey foam at the top, and after about a week it's still there. Never seen anything like it. Apparently it's quite normal but looks really ugly.

Just thought I'd mention that in case you've never used it either.

 

[Blitzer]

Is this the first time you've used us-05 yeast? I've just done my fourth brew and used it for the first time - CRAZY KRAUSEN!!!

I've got about 2 inches of thick gooey foam at the top, and after about a week it's still there. Never seen anything like it. Apparently it's quite normal but looks really ugly.

Just thought I'd mention that in case you've never used it either.

I used it for my last batch only got like 2 cm, do you make a starter?

 

[wbosher]

I used it for my last batch only got like 2 cm, do you make a starter?

No just sprinkled it on, it's gone nuts.

 

[hoppy2B]

Try a Cooper's kit yeast, it will jump out of the ferment vessel. :lol:

 

[slash22000]

Try a Cooper's kit yeast, it will jump out of the ferment vessel. :lol:

Recently made a Coopers "SMOTY" ale. Used both 7g packets of Coopers yeast as per instuctions. I added a bit more dry malt and some crystal grain, rehydrated the yeast, aerated the wort with my wine degasser + power drill.

Made to 22 litres. 30 litre fermentor. Krausen blew through the S-bend airlock friggin everywhere. It was bubbling too quickly to even count the bloops, sounded like an underwater machine gun or something. I have no idea how I'm going to clean the airlock out ... Whole area looks like a crime scene. I guess it's a good thing but it's not going to be fun to clean up!

 

[hoppy2B]

You want to clean your airlock as soon as that happens slash, mine still has brown crap stuck in it. The usual suggestion when that happens is to switch over to a blow-off tube.
I'm not sure if I'll use Coopers kit yeast in future other than for a beer I want to drink in a hurry because the beer doesn't seem to keep well.

 

[wbosher]

Back on topic...have you tried the "Authentic IPA 20L" on the Coopers website? Did one myself about a month ago, been bottled now for two weeks to the day.

Very tempted to try one but will probably give it another week or so...then again...

 

[awall]

Cheers waggastew, I always try to aerate it as much as possible and was planning on leaving it for about 3 weeks before bottling. I put the numbers into an online calc and with one packet i'm going to be slightly underpitching. I was just planning on chucking a single pack in dry like usual. I think i'll try a starter next time, but i'm trying to keep things as simple as possible. I really should've got another pack and pitched half of that too, but it's too late now and I'm sure it'll end up drinkable.

I haven't used US-05 yet, Just WB-06 and a morgans kit yeast. Neither have gone crazy and I've had a relatively small krausen both times.

Wbosher, please let me know how that turns out. My recipe is similar to that one so it would be nice to get some idea of what i'll end up with.

 

[Helles]

Looks like a plan to me, alot of good things going on for your third brew. Hop additions look good and will give the whole thing a lift.

One area to focus on to transform this from a good brew to an AMAZING brew is yeast health. Essentially the big faults that will bring this beer down will not be lack of grains etc, but bad stuff being generated during the ferment. Given you are using US05 I would recommend:

1. Pitching yeast at 18degC but letting it rise and ferment out at 20degC
2. Leaving it for 1 week after reaching FG to ensure the yeast clean up diacetyl etc
3. Pitching two sachets of yeast or making a starter of at least 3L
4. Giving the fermenter a big shake before pitching to ensure its well aerated

With bigger beers there is a bigger risk of generating fusels/esters etc. Keep the ferment clean and the hops can shine.


Good luck and report back once its in the glass.

Stew

Yeast will only clean up Diacetyl while still fermenting not at FG
Raise temp near end of fermentation for Diacetyl

 

[Barge]

Yeast will only clean up Diacetyl while still fermenting not at FG
Raise temp near end of fermentation for Diacetyl

Can't say i agree with this. I've had beers that have had heavy diacetyl after 2 weeks in the bottle. A month after that and they have hardly a note. This was with 34/70 which is a renowned diacetyl reabsorber so that may make a difference.

 

[Brewman_]

I recommend you try a Fat Yak, they are pretty nice.

I had a Fat Yak last week, it was just like how I used to make beer 20 years ago in a shed at 40 Deg.C. Horrible. I am convinced they used the yeast satchel that was on the Can and heated the fermenter with an electric blanket in summer to pump it out quicker. The worst fermentation / off flavours I have tasted in a commercial beer. If that were my beer I would not share it with anyone, except to diagnose the fermentation issues. It is actually worthy of a complaint to the company it was that bad.


I am not sure if I was unlucky on a bad 6 pack or not, I don't drink it regulary.


Fear.

 

[manticle]

Yeast will only clean up Diacetyl while still fermenting not at FG

You sure about that?

 

[hoppy2B]

I thought the Fat Yak had a pretty good hop aroma which is best experienced drunk from a glass.

 

[hoppy2B]

I am not sure if I was unlucky on a bad 6 pack or not, I don't drink it regulary.


Fear.

Dude I think Fat Yak comes in a 4 pack. :lol:

 

[bignath]

I added a bit more dry malt and some crystal grain, rehydrated the yeast, aerated the wort with my wine degasser + power drill.

WTF?? :huh:

 

[hoppy2B]

Dude I think Fat Yak comes in a 4 pack. :lol:

WTF?? :lol:

 

[slash22000]

WTF?? :huh:

Not sure what you are WTF'ing there? Now I'm concerned I did something wrong! :unsure: